Certain types of electrical equipment such as data processing or computer equipment may operate satisfactorily and not overheat when the equipment is provided with ventilation slots or openings, whereby the normal convection flow of air is adequate to cool the computer. However, when certain auxilliary equipment is added to the computer such as supplemental storage or memory units, the equipment may overheat, and be subject to failure, unless additional cooling is provided. Although forced air cooling is known and is sometimes included within large electronic or electrical equipments, it is frequently not practical or possible to include a fan unit within the original confines of the electrical equipment casing. Accordingly, in such cases, the equipment may operate marginally at the higher ambient temperature, but may be subject to a higher rate of component failure, and the resultant failures of power switches, electronic chips or other components may cause considerable downtime, annoyance, and expense, to the owner of the equipment.
Accordingly an important object of the present invention is to provide supplemental cooling arrangements for an electrical or electronic equipment of the type described hereinabove, while concurrently insuring that the main electrical equipment is not operated unless the supplemental cooling arrangements are energized.